Retiring BRIDG executive Holladay talks high tech
Dan Holladay has been helping build high-tech communities for decades.
In Austin in the 1990s, Holladay helped lead the city’s emergence as a tech hub while at the semiconductor giant Sematech, a company started by microchip pioneer Bob Noyce.
Now, he has been trying to build a similar ecosystem in Kissimmee as executive director of the sensor research facility BRIDG, a hightech facility that some say could usher in a new economic driver just outside of Kissimmee.
But his retirement at the end of the year will give Holladay, 63, a chance to get away from the effort — at least partially — and spend more time with family and his motorcycles.
Holladay owns six motorcycles, including a Triumph Bonneville and a 2007 Ducati Multistrada.
“It’s a great stress release,” he said. “It’s the last cowboys and the last frontier. You just ride out across the country.”
He recently discussed how the microchip industry has evolved and where Kissimmee fits into its future.
Question: Why is having this sensor-research facility in Kissimmee a big deal right now?
Answer: This is bigger than the “Internet of Things.” This is the fourth Industrial Revolution. That term fits a lot better. There is a big demand for all of these sensors and devices.
Q: What strategies are out there to draw younger people into the worlds of sensors and emerging tech?
A: We are starting to figure that out. We have to get them involved with industry and excited early. We have to use this platform to bring kids in and teach them what nanotechnology and microelectronics are all about. Q: How has the science of microcomputing evolved?
A: For many years, it was based around memory and microprocessors (integrated circuits or microchips fabricated as a single unit). What is happening now is that it’s based around silicon wafers (thin strips of silicon used to form microchips). It’s getting exciting to use these as platforms to deliver all of these emergent technologies.
Q: Why is it important for businesses to collaborate, especially in emerging technologies?
A: Collaboration is one of the most powerful tools and opportunities out there. (Former Sematech CEO) Bob Noyce used to say “Knowledge is power but knowledge shared is power multiplied.” You have to secure the beachhead, of course, but when you draw a curtain around your world, you limit yourself. It’s a much more powerful way of developing software or technology.
Q: How does BRIDG’s approach differ from other economic development efforts?
A: Sometimes you have a problem understanding (how to do it). The most traditional way is to chum the water then throw money at the big sharks and they will come in. But here, we are creating the coral reef. The big sharks will come and will stay here forever.
Q: What is it about riding motorcycles that gets you going?
A: You smell all the smells. You see things you wouldn’t see in a car. You are just out there in the open, just like you would be if you were riding through town on a horse.